Alfred stretched back in his seat, yawning as he waited for the others. Antonio and Lovino were arguing as usual but Alfred tuned them out. The constant bickering was giving him a headache as he scratched absent-mindedly at his arm through the sleeve of his blazer.
He looked up and smiled as the door to the canteen opened and Kiku entered. Alfred was about to call him over when he saw him turn back to talk to Ludwig and Feliciano who had walked in just behind him. The three of them went over to sit together on the other side of the room, deep in conversation.
Alfred sighed, rubbing his eyes and yawning again as he idly looked around, the others were all in their own conversations that didn't include him. No one was paying him any attention, too engrossed in what they were doing.
After a moment he stood up, collected his things together and went over to the food counters. He picked something small to eat for lunch and went to pay for it. He handed the money over silently before leaving, wandering down the halls to reach the outdoor eating area – which was pretty much just a paved area with a few benches. The weather was overcast and the clouds promised rain, even so Alfred was surprised that there weren't more people sitting outside to have their lunch. The only other people around were Roderich and Elizabeta and they were too far away and far too busy to even notice that he was there.
He sighed, these days even his brother – who had always been the quieter, ignored one – was getting more attention that he was. Alfred had noticed that Gilbert had been giving Matthew more attention, the older boy was hanging around a lot more than he used to. The pair of them had always been close friends but recently they had seemed even closer than before. Though, as Matthew hadn't mentioned it to him Alfred presumed – quite rightly – that neither of them had asked the other out yet. He'd have to do something about that at some point.
Alfred jumped as the bell rang to signal the end of lunch. He wanted to just skip his last lesson and go home but he knew that he wouldn't be able to get away with it. Sighing, he shoved the last of his food into his mouth as he forced himself to his feet and started to walk slowly towards the French classrooms.
Author's Note: Sorry this is late, short and a bit rubbish. I've been stupidly busy helping to sort out the show my Performing Arts group put on. It was amazing in the end but I didn't have time to think about anything else while I was in all day rehearsals.
Hope you enjoy this chapter even though I don't particularly like it (written far too quickly when I had a bit of a writers block) and it gets across what I want it to.